Fall Poker League Weekly Recap

As you already know, this week, I finally got back into the points! It's about damn time.

As Bodie25 points out, it's mostly because he wasn't there. OK...that was funny.

I did make some more adjustments this week and actually got some cards for once. Some of the things I changed:

• All headphones - all the time. In the past, I'd followed the advice and didn't really where headphones much. I found that when I don't where them, I don't think through the hand like a should and tend to be more adventurous (aka...STUPID).
• No more chatter! While I wasn't wearing my headphones, I wasn't chatting, and when I'm not chatting, I'm paying attention. This will be key to some of the hands to come.
• Don't be afraid to die. If I thought I had the best hand...I bet it. Period. No worries about some donkey. I know the odds...believe in them.
• Patience.

These steps were crucial last night. I also faced a demon that had been dogging me for a few weeks. I slayed the dragon that is the gentleman the beat me in the heads up tournament. He was seated on my left when the tournament began. We also saw the return of Mojo_Death. He returning from paternity leave. I spent most of the night focusing on the left side of the table. A couple of new people on my right rounded things off. Mojo_Death was UTG when I was on the button. He was back to his old tricks...continuation bets galore.

The first real hand of note was against my dragon. I had AA on the button, the flop comes K high and ends with straight and flush draws. I kept betting...he had a K and I took one down. It was small...I wasn't really betting either. In the past, he's drawn to straights and flushes with raises so I really didn't want to dump a lof of money into the pot.

The next big hand came against the same man. I'm in the cut-off. Playing very tight. One limper infront of me (a player prone to limping), and I look down to find Q♠J♠, I call the limp, the LB calls and the BB (Chief Bourbonator) checks . The flop comes K♣10♦9♣. I thought about screaming "GIN!" but thought that might be counter productive. The first limper raises to 300 (3XBB), I don't like letting people see things for free, so I reraise to 900. The LB goes in the tank and comes out with a call. BB Folds. Original raises tanks it for a minute and he too folds. On to the turn...it's a K♥ I studied him when the card came...that didn't help him, I was sure of it. I'm also sure we aren't splitting. He's a man that will play draws, but he also knows there is a limit to the price you'd pay to do it. I think that first bet exceeded that price. So now I'm really thing that he has AQ or AK and a flush draw. If he had a set, he would look at lot more calm than this. He's very seriously uncomfortable at this time. To keep the pressure on him I bet 1050. That's the exact number of chips he has left. I'm positive that at this moment...I'm ahead. This causes another visit to the tank. Some people at the table started encouraging him to call so they can see what I was betting with. I really hate this, I was hoping he would call, but that kind of talk is uncalled for. He comes out of the tank and says call. He's got AJ. He told me he thought I was bluffing a draw. and figured he could out draw me. Nope...the river was a blank and my straight held. The dragon was dead!

For the next hour, I spent time picking off John H. He's notorious for playing a wide range of cards and being aggressive, but I think I have him figured out. He almost always plays the button. He's guranteed to raise if he's the last to act. The key to beating him was to call that raise. If the raise was small, he's got nothing. If he thinks about it much and its bigger...he's got it. I started calling that first raise. Since I was first to act after the flop, I'd raise the turn about pot sized. He'd fold. That helped pay for the longer run. He also never checks the turn if has a hand.

Finally the reason I busted. The hand doesn't matter...the reason does. I got impatient and didn't think through everything. The kid with the expanding earings, will always call with top pair. I figured he had top pair...and still raised all-in. D'Oh! Lesson of the day...kid with expanding earing holes...always calls with top pair!